STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Becht – season-high 33 points (10-16 FG, 8-12 3-FG, 5-5 FT), 6 rebounds, 3 assists
• Henderson – career-high 23 points (8-12 FG, 7-10 3-FG), 4 assists
• Junior Derrick Grant Jr. (Plainfield, N.J.) – 11 points (5-7 FG, 1-1 3-FG), 6 rebounds

KEY MOMENTS

• Southern New Hampshire trailed by five a little more than four minutes in when a Becht 3-pointer sparked a 22-4 burst that gave the visitors a 28-15 advantage with 10:30 to play in the opening half. Becht and Henderson led the way during the stretch with nine points each. Saint Michael's crept within nine with under four minutes remaining before Henderson's fifth triple of the frame triggered a 7-0 run that gave SNHU its largest lead of the half at 46-30 with two minutes left. The Purple Knights eventually netted the final four points and trimmed their deficit at the break to 49-37.
• The Penmen used a 27-10 blitz to begin the second half, with 14 points from Becht and seven from Grant widening the Southern New Hampshire advantage to 76-47 with 10:49 to go. A 7-0 spurt later in the stanza gave SNHU its largest lead of the night at 90-57 with just under five minutes on the clock.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Senior Noah Kamba (Lynn, Mass.) tallied nine points (4-10 FG, 1-7 3-FG), five rebounds and three assists.
• Fellow senior Preston Santos (Providence, R.I.) notched eight points (3-4 FG, 1-2 3-FG, 1-1 FT) and four boards.
• Junior Jordan Brathwaite (Silver Spring, Md.) posted six points (1-3 FG, 4-4 FT) and 10 rebounds.
• Sophomore Royce Williams (Manchester, N.H.) added four points (1-5 FG, 2-2 FT), four rebounds and two assists.
• Southern New Hampshire outshot Saint Michael's, 54.1 percent (33-61) to 36.7 percent (22-60), including 48.7 percent (19-39) to 37.5 percent (12-32) from long distance. SNHU also shot it better from the line, 80 percent (12-15) to 56.3 percent (9-16).
• The Penmen won the glass (42-26), scored more second chance points (22-8), received more scoring from their bench (13-12) and featured a more impressive assist-to-turnover ratio (16/11-9/9), while the Purple Knights scored more points off turnovers (14-9) and on the fast break (8-2). Points in the paint were even (20-20.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire has won seven of its last nine, including a season-high six-in-a-row.
• SNHU reaches 20 wins for the second straight year – the first time it has strung together back-to-back 20-win campaigns since 2015-16 and 2016-17.
• The Penmen improve to 25-16 (.610) all-time in the NE10 Championship, including 2-0 against Saint Michael's. SNHU books its ticket for the title game for the sixth time in program history, but the first since 2017. It will play host to sixth-seeded Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday (March 9) at 1 p.m.
• SCSU holds a 2-1 edge in three NE10 Championship meetings, including a 76-74 first round win in the most recent gathering in 2018. The two teams have never met deeper than the quarterfinal round. The Penmen swept the regular season series with an 84-71 home triumph Jan. 13 and an 82-70 road victory Feb. 21.
• SNHU leads the all-time series with Saint Michael's, 43-15, and has won 18 of the last 22 meetings, including seven of eight. The Penmen have also won five of the last six on the road versus the Purple Knights, who last defeated SNHU at home Feb. 6, 2019 (82-72).
• The Penmen salvaged a split of the regular-season series with an 82-75 take-down of first-place Saint Michael's on the road Jan. 30, while the Purple Knights escaped Manchester with a 63-62 win back on Nov. 29.
• The 19 made 3-pointers matches a program record set at Mercy University on Nov. 9, 2019.
• The 32-point margin of victory for SNHU is the worst loss of the season for Saint Michael's, which lost to Bentley University by 19 (84-65) on Feb. 14 in its previous worst defeat. The 97 points by the Penmen are the second most against the Purple Knights, who allowed 101 in a  loss at the College of Staten Island on Dec. 16 (101-97).
• Becht's career high of 35 points came in a 101-81 win at Pace University on Jan. 29, 2022. His eight made 3-pointers are a career best, surpassing the seven he has made on two occasions – most recently in an 82-52 victory at home against Saint Anselm College on Jan. 24.
• Henderson's seven triples also mark a career high. 
• Becht broke the single-season program record with his eighth and final 3-pointer of the game, passing Sotirios Karapostolou, who made 112 triples during the 2002-03 campaign. Becht, who moved into 30th on SNHU's all-time scoring list with 1,297 career points, also passed Matt Ripaldi (1992-96; 277) for third place on the all-time 3-pointers made list with 279.

WHAT'S NEXT

• The Penmen will play host to sixth-seeded Southern Connecticut State University in the NE10 Championship title game Saturday (March 9) at 1 p.m. at the Stan Spirou Field House.